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An Architectural Critique of Connected UtopiasThomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt [email protected] srsg.co
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OR
Promethean Provocations
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Thomas Wendt pronouns: they or he
Design Facilitator Strategist and Researcher Design Critic Author
Based in NYC
Research Interests: HCD, sustainability, design philosophy, co-operative and participatory design, design ethics and the politics of design
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Prometheus_Adam_Louvre_MR1745_edit_atoma.jpg
Prometheus = “forethought”; Epimetheus = “afterthought”Epimetheus tasked to create life, but forgot to equip humans (lack of foresight)Trick at Mecone: tricked Zeus into taking the bones, Prometheus as designer, Zeus took firePrometheus stole back fire: dissenter, trickster, rule breakerPrometheus punished by being tied to a rock and having liver eaten
Trickster, make ourselves at home through technology
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjnjpyGvYzOAhWH0iYKHThED8kQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2Fmorelikethis%2F437842361&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNETu1opEuqd2VApGBRU2UB31yXDdQ&ust=1469462602276397
Common connotations of “connection”
Intimacy, closeness
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
The connection being sold to us
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjniZykyqrOAhUNySYKHULVBokQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2016%2F06%2F28%2Famazon-expands-its-dash-button-program-to-50-more-brands-says-orders-taking-place-twice-a-minute%2F&bvm=bv.128617741,bs.
1,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHk53IK-_iuoOOZQ_6CIJrJffKjkw&ust=1470496941706454
Connected ecosystems increasingly only serve capital.
What are we trading for convenience?
They create cycles of consumption that are illustrative of our many people’s daily lives.
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We are so alienated from our food sources in modern industrial capitalism that we rely on packaged garbage to feed us. So we might cook up some Kraft Mac and Cheese for dinner.
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The combination of sodium, carbohydrates, and artificial everything makes us dehydrated, so we turn to Gatorade to quench our thirst.
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All this sweetened, artificial food packed with preservatives upsets our digestive systems, so we always need an abundance of Cottonelle toilet paper.
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We use Clorox wipes to clean the kitchen, because anything less than clinical sterilization is unacceptable.
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And since the wipes are conveniently disposable, we throw them away in a Glad trash bag to be shipped off to the landfill.
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We put on some Loreal Youth Code after dinner to ward off any signs of natural aging.
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Now it’s time to tend to the children, feeding them their own form of packaged garbage in the form of Gerber baby food.
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And changing their Huggies diaper
And throwing the old one out in the Glad bag (it always ends in trash)
Problematize these cycles
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Why Architecture?
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Reviewer comment.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
“Architecture” = “master builder”
Article about Google turning NYC payphone booths into advertising hubs. Sign in once and receive personalized ads whenever you walk by.
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"One thing I know about my fellow New Yorkers, they like things that are
completely free of charge.”
Mayor Bill De Blasio
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjx77vS7O7OAhVJlR4KHUqoAxoQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBill_de_Blasio&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNG5zE1H909KO14tQTY7MP4UVK_apA&ust=1472842656619228
Irony is that they’re not free at all.
Costing us a sense of dwelling. I’m scared by this neoliberal acceptance of invasive advertising.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Master ≠ Skilled
Master = Holder of Power
These corporations are our master builders. Not masters in the sense of highly skilled; masters in the sense of those in power.
Questioning the very idea of a master builder
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“Architecture is too important to be left to architects.”
Giancarlo De Carlo
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi4gM7m8e7OAhVJlR4KHf6vDdwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Falchetron.com%2FGiancarlo-De-Carlo-767428-W&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGN-ma0lCfhA0Cw8hU_XVdQtKoDWw&ust=1472844048049211
Where Tim Brown got the “design version”
Anarchism, Participatory architecture
Epimetheus was supposed to be a master builder
[don’t tell the steelworks story yet]
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Points of Critique
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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“Practicing criticism is a matter of making facile gestures difficult.”
Michel Foucault
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi4-LGJ7e7OAhVJ1R4KHcOVDPAQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fredaccion.lamula.pe%2F2016%2F05%2F04%2Fcinco-peliculas-para-acercarnos-al-pensamiento-de-michel-foucault%2Fmanuelangeloprado%2F&bvm=bv.
131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNE3qL9R4PaBFzANOa50w_DK0aGHgw&ust=1472842773590572
The point of criticism is not to offer solutions, it is to make the normal ways of doing things problematic.
Google Booth
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This Stuff Critiques Itself
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
This stuff critiques itself.
Coming from an American context. Silicon Valley.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjbipnLsYzOAhXGJiYKHWjQDMcQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Flaughingsquid.com%2Fegg-minder-a-smart-egg-tray-that-uses-an-app-to-provide-updates-on-how-many-eggs-are-inside%2F&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNEauJ6Z3tKMe4OfzJoAWyDMhMRd_Q&ust=1469459559853243
Quirky’s egg minderTells you how many eggs you have
Assuring abundance
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiCyr3OsozOAhWCSCYKHVN6ASQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.wezzoo.com%2Foombrella&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNFW9f-w2Ufj03AtTfV8df-PvqDzeQ&ust=1469459832355942https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj86Yq7s4zOAhVKgiYKHacOAKMQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leeo.com
%2Fdesign-and-the-internet-of-things%2F&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNF53P6bO-02UhXnbT5hhQ8R8U58ZA&ust=1469460062384279https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjX3pGEtYzOAhVMOSYKHePgBpwQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fanimalia%2Fwp%2F2016%2F07%2F22%2Fso-it-has-come-to-this-an-app-that-finds-someone-to-pick-up-your-dogs-poop%2F&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHG2K6LGrWC1zrMv4z-3n4CaVVQUg&ust=1469460466094999
PooperFinds someone to pick up your dog’s shit
Labor exploitation
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiCyr3OsozOAhWCSCYKHVN6ASQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.wezzoo.com%2Foombrella&bvm=bv.127984354,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNFW9f-w2Ufj03AtTfV8df-PvqDzeQ&ust=1469459832355942
Kars 4 Kids
Alerts when child is still in car.
Basically, we pay more attention to phones than children
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(In)visibility Solutionism Sustainability
3 Critical Points
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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1. (In)visibility
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj0i7uaqK3OAhXLmh4KHW0ICqIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amsvans.com%2Fblog%2Fbrain-computer-interface-can-help-those-with-disabilities
%2F&psig=AFQjCNGJ27gT6AJHgwlA3wKhlUobdbLzrQ&ust=1470590904970973
Invisible interfaces hold promise for certain applications, such as for those with differing abilities
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjjpejMpq3OAhXB9h4KHXy9DLkQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tbo.com%2Flist%2Fmilitary-news%2Fid-summit-showcases-gadgets-that-can-find-a-face-in-a-crowd-20150922%2F&psig=AFQjCNGOxGPz59JlKJAJK-
uSDaWdNN8agw&ust=1470590458149298
“The project of everyware is nothing less than the colonization of everyday
life by information technology.”
Adam Greenfield
Invisibility in this context is not a blending into the background for the sake of anonymity. It is quite the opposite; by making interfaces invisible, corporations are able to extract even more information without needing to be explicit about it.
“colonization”
Google booths
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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%2F&psig=AFQjCNGO54qqob8EqRrCmkIMxO9o5NsIjw&ust=1470614891216141
“And this invisibility is a guarantee of order.”
Michel Foucault
Among many other things, Foucault was an architectural theorist.
Panopticon-Invisibility of those in power guarantees compliance-Invisibility of fellow prisoners-Ensures that power is always visible in abstract form, never verifiable
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Foucault argued that the Panopticon functions opposite to the dungeon, the previous method of imprisonment.
Dungeon = locking away, invisibility of the undesirable Panopticon = publicizing the undesirable
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mycity-web.com%2Fkatarina-milovanovic%2F&psig=AFQjCNGaGBkJl_INxbwuHMEeKK54v7JNJg&ust=1470697006430502
Control vs Discipline
Note the difference in visibility (child looking directly at cigarette)
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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A&ust=1470696660976102https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjZtsS0srDOAhVLQSYKHUdGBMYQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fhehaseyes.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fpedometer%2F&psig=AFQjCNFTSSgl6l9JC7Sn9kMR1TpyuuA7uw&ust=1470696726772968
Private and public
Policing is designed into the app
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“Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance […] Behind the
great abstraction of exchange, there continues the meticulous, concrete
training of useful forces […] The individual is carefully fabricated in it, according to a whole technique of
forces and bodies.”
Michel Foucault
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiE_NLm9-7OAhWDFR4KHb74D0wQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Falittlemoresauce.com%2Ftag%2Fmichel-foucault%2F&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGUZ1HRP544i9vsvtd7IXRNjfl6tg&ust=1472845662732862
Techniques of self (dieting) serve discipline designed into our technologies. Submit to power systems we can’t see.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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NlSff_JmaSaTtxkhjXVTw&ust=1470762563580062
We’re left with this sense that something exists in our environment that we cannot readily perceive.
Hans Holbein“The Ambassadors”
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dodedans.com%2FEholbein-ambassador.htm&psig=AFQjCNEjZd-x06Uk2891lA8ohuBvlRwrBw&ust=1470762637400146
In Holbein’s case, it was the image of death.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Gaze, Lacan. Anxiety felt when one feels they are being watched, objectified. Foucault also referred to the medical gaze.
Hieronymus Bosch“The Conjurer”
Woman in green is looking at you.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Nest thermostat
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2. Solutionism
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Solutionism The belief that all problems have easy,
often technological solutions.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjewsiK7u7OAhUGKx4KHTfKDBcQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuYHiE1GX1HI&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNGf09_OBMAyiNDdBVXvwim4U5FfBg&ust=1472843045586497
Evgeny Morozov
Silicon Valley. Does a disservice to the complexity of most issues.
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“One could say that nothing conceals the
emergency of the unsustainable more effectively that the
blinding and enduring power of this faith in
technology as salvation.”
Tony Fryhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjY8JXZ7u7OAhULpR4KHY_LAvgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.sd.polyu.edu.hk%2Fen%2Fevent%2Finternational-speaker-series-tony-fry-lecture-workshop&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNEqafTzdx24wCXx0YFhR5nWq0WVyw&ust=1472843183166135
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjy8syqx7fOAhVLfiYKHXlMDFQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPetnet-SmartFeeder-Automatic-Feeding-iPhone%2Fdp
%2FB010QYTN2K&psig=AFQjCNE_Kl5_BFmxFvS3lTvEEj1lMpyuiQ&ust=1470942836174148
Pet net.Feed pets remotely so you can stay at work.Don’t rely on social relationships and burden your friends. Problem is not about feeding pets, it’s about not being home enough
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiwn5aeybfOAhXQZiYKHTQQDS8QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnbiehler.com%2F2012%2F10%2F02%2Ftech-tuesday-bluetooth-gloves-the-lifestraw-water-filter%2F&psig=AFQjCNFIkbCZHlKwH9S-zmbRFEQIzHk8Pg&ust=1470943214743833
Bluetooth glove.
Instead of not being on the phone while outside in cold weather, we designed around it.
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Febreeze Home
Instead of cleaning your house, release scent with your phone.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Innovation for innovation’s sake.
The world as material to be hacked at the infrastructural level.
Wasted effort on inconsequential problems.
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3. Sustainability
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjJwLnSnq3OAhVDHR4KHTLHAPcQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.scifinow.co.uk%2Ftag%2Ffrankenstein%2F&psig=AFQjCNEaifph2LRa28w2E5CUWjUYXi3GAA&ust=1470588321714850
Dr Frankenstein’s sin was not that he manipulated nature, nor that he created a monster. It’s that he failed to love his monster (Latour).
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwit6uKBiMnOAhXHHB4KHfcwBZwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.general-ebooks.com%2Fsearch%2Fmary-wollstonecraft-shelley-frankenstein-or-modern-
prometheus&psig=AFQjCNFQeWkSOMgBoFDemDfGPb2u4yioSQ&ust=1471544339829339
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjirNrIiMnOAhWIVh4KHbj2C78QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxfilesposterproject.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F131256048400%2Fthe-post-modern-prometheus-episode-102-
instead&psig=AFQjCNHO048U-3WEt_kAIeg3qT_ecG4mXA&ust=1471544486378346
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://aeon.co/essays/innovation-is-overvalued-maintenance-often-matters-more?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f5f6abc3ac-Daily_Newsletter_7_April_20164_4_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-f5f6abc3ac-68898121
We associate design with creation, but sometimes the best design decision are to not create, to maintain what we have.
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“An activity is sustainable if it does not damage the capacity of the landbase
to support its members.”
Derrick Jensen
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjvp7G78-7OAhWBJh4KHYZODYIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.coach.me%2Fderrick-jensen-interview%2F&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNETAFmz2oEOEYwMpWT_FKROYozIIQ&ust=1472844476561644
Because when we create, we need to think about sustainability. Historically, we are not good at that.
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi7w6eGl8vOAhUBKB4KHfkqDeQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fadambemma.com%2F2013%2F04%2F21%2Fthe-proliferation-of-e-waste-in-africa-full-length-documentary
%2F&psig=AFQjCNEfiSgDTYci7I7MAlBTS9_COktU6Q&ust=1471616988180381https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwimnoPq9O7OAhXGqx4KHetEBY4QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ftopic%2Fewaste&bvm=bv.131669213,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNENHNAFFEgC3-DUfurB9BVqMJx8ug&ust=1472844679082920
Our inability to love our monsters is fundamentally unsustainable
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjNw_zllsvOAhXIPB4KHeCnBK4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgreatforest.com%2Fsustainability101%2Fwaste-recycling-composting%2Fmaking-difference-transforming-africas-largest-e-waste-dump-model-recycling-center
%2F&psig=AFQjCNEfiSgDTYci7I7MAlBTS9_COktU6Q&ust=1471616988180381
These are the people who have to deal with the waste products of bad design.
Bad design is not hard to use, but the feral, unloved monsters we have created.
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Politics Ecology Conviviality
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Being good little designers, you’re all asking “What can we do?”
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Ecological Thinking =
How We Dwell
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Ecology = the study of dwelling
Not how we exist, but how we thrive and flourish.
Architecture’s concern as well
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Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Tim Morton says ecological thinking is the thinking of the trickster, and Prometheus is one of the most well known tricksters in history.
He used cunning intelligence to take power from the gods.
Designers and IAs are responsible to take back power from corporations and Silicon Valley
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Be cunning
Resisting Connection
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
We’re caught up in an industrial system that demands participation, but our cunning intelligence can provide moments of resistance.
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Be cunning
Be critical
Resisting Connection
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Bright and shiny IoT products often begin with borderline slave labor and end in e-waste dumping grounds. Let’s get real about whether this is acceptable.
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Be cunning
Be critical
Be political
Resisting Connection
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
We all know design is never neutral. Let’s stop acting like it is.
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Be cunning
Be critical
Be political
Be co-operative
Resisting Connection
Thomas Wendt Surrounding Signifiers @thomas_wendt
Fewer architects, more cooperation
Story of De Carlo’s steelworks project
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“I choose the term 'conviviality' to designate the opposite of industrial productivity. I intend it to mean autonomous
and creative intercourse among persons, and the intercourse of persons with their environment; and this in contrast with the conditioned response of persons to the
demands made upon them by others, and by a man-made environment. I consider conviviality to be individual
freedom realized in personal interdependence and, as such, an intrinsic ethical value. I believe that, in any society, as conviviality is reduced below a certain level, no amount of industrial productivity can effectively satisfy the needs it
creates among society's members.”
Ivan Illich
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwik0dORr_POAhWDMx4KHcjODEMQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnagasenamenandre.blogspot.com%2F&psig=AFQjCNF8dtF9FVC7Jk1VjqF9yjAfMuwA2w&ust=1472997887148422
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Thomas Wendt srsg.co [email protected] @thomas_wendt